Diocese: Belgaum
Pioneers: Sisters Cecily Pinto, Eulalia Monteiro and Benedicta Pinto
On May 19, 1969, the Ursuline Franciscan Sisters assumed the responsibility of collaboration with Fr Jacob P J, a priest of the Diocese of Belgaum, to empower the inhabitants of one of the remotest villages in the district of Dharwad in Karnataka, namely, Tumarikop. Sr Ernestine D’Almeida, Superior General, designated three heroic Sisters for the purpose, namely Sisters Cecily Pinto, Eulalia Monteiro and Benedicta Fernandes. They received shelter under the roof of the old parish church. In battling the sorry state of affairs of the area and its vicinity, as warranted by their mission, they ventured into several courses of action like education, administration of the centre for women, named Grihini as well as a boarding house for girl children and a dispensary. To this effect, on April 29, 1992 an agreement was signed between the Diocese of Belgaum represented by Bishop Ignatius Lobo of Belgaum and the Ursuline Franciscan Congregation represented by Sr Severine Barrows, Superior General. The contract spelled out the apostolic activities the Sisters were expected to carry out, the responsibility of the diocese/parish towards the Sisters, terms and conditions concerning the movable and immovable goods, and the responsibilitly of the Congregation to assign suitable personnel for the mission. The Sisters have been fulfilling loyally these stipulations over the years.
The abject poverty of Tumarikop had led the people to neglect education of their children. The Sisters succeeded in creating awareness and motivation with regard to this concern. It proved rewarding to see the response of the people. During the tenure of Sr Patricia Tauro as head teacher of the school, St Xavier High School turned out to be one of the best schools in the district of Dharwad. In fact she won the ‘best teacher’ award at the district level of Dharwad. Likewise, St Xavier High School at Tumarikop became known for its discipline, value based education, and co- curricular and extra-curricular activities. In 1997, Sr Shanthi Lobo replaced Sr Patricia Tauro. Along with Sr Hilda Lobo, her assistant, she maintained the pulse of the School. In order to prevent the children from dropping out of school, they, along with lay teaching staff, coached the students regularly. The discipline and atmosphere of the School has been commended by education officials visiting the school with their attributing it to supervision, inspection, and educational training programmes. At the transfer of Sr Hilda Lobo in 2004 and Sr Shanthi in 2007, the Management of the School appointed Fr Maria Antony as the head teacher of the School. Since then one single Sister serves in the school as teacher. Unhappily, the Sisters are deprived of a post in the High School, which, according to an agreement made earlier with the Bishop, ought to have been theirs.
The Centre for women, Grihini has been administered with utmost care. Sisters Mariola Picardo and Hilda Lobo were its animators. Craft, tailoring, science of agriculture, house management, family building, cooking, praying, moral education, etiquette, health, and hygiene have been the areas dealt with at the Centre. Not merely theory, but also practical learning was insisted on. At this Centre thirty to thirty-five trainees have benefited annually. In order to acquire self- sufficiency of the Centre a poultry-farm was maintained. Acquiring training at the Centre enabled women to grow in self-confidence, leadership, building their families, in taking up issues related to justice, and fighting for their rights. The students were given opportunity to tour other places in view of acquiring more knowledge on issues related to their area of work. Fr Jacob PJ as a parish priest had donated 16 acres of land for utilization of Grihini. Unfortunately, this noble work has slipped out of the hands of the Sisters as Fr Jacob shifted it to Kalaghatgi when he moved there.
The Sisters were aware of the fact that women were a vulnerable section of society at Tumarikop. They explored an alternate measure to assist them. They started a boarding house for girl children on August 24, 2003 commending it to the patronage of St Angela Merici. It attends to the education of girl children of remote areas in and around Tumarikop. Financial assistance comes in for this great cause from various angles such as the Generalate, the Province and benefactors from Italy. In 2004 the water supply was arranged to the boarding as well as the Convent from the Benachi Kere.
The people of Tumarikop have been helped out through a dispensary, named Asha Nilaya. It was started on November 7, 1988 with the arrival of Sr Beatrice D’Silva to Tumarikop. She used the parlour of the house as dispensary. In 1991 it was shifted to the boarding house of the children. Several people from various neighbouring villages such as, Muthige, Siggatti, Herehonalli, Kalghatagi, Hullambi and Devikoppa have availed themselves of the benefits of the dispensary. Their trust in the healing power of Sr Beatrice D’Silva was so profound that they approached her for all their illnesses irrespective of her incompetence to take up certain cases. Precisely for this reason she upgraded herself with medicare facilities and refresher courses in the medical field arranged by the CHAI in Bellary and Bangalore. From then on she aimed at preventive health care. She conducted awareness programmes on the killer disease, HIV/AIDS. She treated several ailing people free of cost as they were unable to pay for the medicine. Sadly this project was closed down with the transfer of Sr Beatrice D’Silva in 1993.
Pastoral apostolate is central to their life at Tumrikop. They catechize, animate the altar servers, clean the House of God, prepare the liturgy, distribute Communion, and prepare the children for the reception of the sacraments. They also attend the pastoral council meetings and collaborate in the activities of the parish wholeheartedly. They visit the families, pray with them and guide them as and when necessary. Special attention is paid to the women of the parish. They listen to their woes, guide them and stand by them. Women have built up confidence in the Sisters who support them in times of need and trials. The Sisters attend meetings and seminars of the women’s cell arranged by the diocese. Self-help-groups are maintained by the Sisters; these groups render a great deal of service to the church in liturgy and other activities.
The situation of Tumarikop provides ample scope for social apostolate. The Sisters have been addressing the problems right from the inception of Bharavasha Nilaya. In keeping with the name of their house, they have attempted to change the situation of hopelessness into hope. In view of this they visit families, listen to their joys and sorrows. They coach the slow-learning students, guide them morally, assist them to settle their discords, guide them in choosing a career, in building character etc.
Acute poverty was a stark reality at Tumrikop. In the initial years, the Sisters assisted their pupils in health and hygiene; along with the staff, they supplied clothes, books, and stationery to the students. The Sisters motivated people in farming especially sericulture. To enthuse them further in this regard, a ten days’ camp was organized in collaboration with the students from Rajiv Gandhi Agriculture College. Several of them benefited from the practical sessions conducted at the spot.
The convent building constructed in 1975 was in an awful condition. It was renovated with assistance from Mangalore Province and a few donors. The refurbished house was blessed on October 16, 2005 by Fr Derek Fernandes. In 2006, the Sisters undertook protective measures regarding their immovable goods. As such, the 16.32-acre land was fenced with barbed wire. The sericulture cultivation was enhanced with sprinkler irrigation, made possible by a subsidy scheme of the government. In 2007, a shed was built for sericulture processing and storage; a shed with four tanks for earthworm collection was also installed. In view of securing self-sufficiency for the boarding house, paddy, additional sericulture, maize, cotton, and soyabean cultivation are being resorted to. A pump set was a need of the hour, which, happily, the Sisters have obtained from the Provincialate.
The Sisters have been contributing towards the development of Tumarikop over the years. They have been identifying themselves with women, children, youth, the sick, the aged. Tumarikop is a transformed place today; thanks to the Sisters’ dedication to a large extent. Thus the Sisters of Bharavasha Nilaya are true to their mission of shedding rays of hope in a place staring at them with its hopelessness.